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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29912520">A Camping Trip</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatgaypoetickid/pseuds/thatgaypoetickid'>thatgaypoetickid</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Jazzalil Oneshots [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Firebringer - Team StarKid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, F/M, Jemilla tries and fails to keep her in line, Molag is mentioned, The tribe just wanna go camping, Things don't go well.., Zazz is her usual wacky self</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 20:01:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,642</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29912520</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatgaypoetickid/pseuds/thatgaypoetickid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>With their exams of the month over the tribe decide to have fun and go camping. Some scheming from Emberly leads to Jemilla and Zazzalil sharing a tent, and despite all Jemilla's tedious planning things don't go well. As expected, Zazzalil is the cause.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Emberly/Grunt (Firebringer), Jemilla/Zazzalil (Firebringer), Smelly-Balls/Tiblyn (Firebringer)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Jazzalil Oneshots [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1986871</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter One: Beard Shopping</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“We should go camping! The exams just finished, it’s the perfect time,” Tiblyn suggested.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That could be fun, but it’d take a lot of organising,” Emberly said and Chorn nodded in agreement.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe Jemilla could plan it, seeing as she’s the most responsible?” Tiblyn said and Jemilla looked up from her book.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You could organise a camping trip, two days down at the lake,” Emberly said and Jemilla furrowed her brows. Camping in winter?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But isn’t it cold, why don’t we do something that’s not so </span>
  <em>
    <span>outdoorsy</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But I want to go camping, and everyone else does too,” Tiblyn said and a few of the others nodded. “Please Jemilla? Pleaseee?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Maybe camping could be good, a chance to get away from campus and feel refreshed. Plus it’d been a while since Jemilla had gone camping.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay fine, but we’re sticking to my plan,” she said, pulling her pocket notebook from her jacket. “We should split into pairs so we only need five tents, and also bring food, water and the other camping essentials.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay well that means Keeri is gonna be my partner,” Emberly said, grabbing Keeri’s arm. Both Zazzalil and Grunt frowned, but Grunt seemed much more upset than Zazzalil did.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll go with Ducker, he’s my bro.” SB punched Ducker in the arm a little harder than he meant to. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll take Chorn because they’re chill,” Schwoopsie said, Chorn nodded. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I guess I’m with Tibs then,” Grunt grumbled, still upset that Emberly wasn’t gonna share with him. Tiblyn just smiled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And that leaves Jemilla and Zazz,” Emberly said with a grin, Jemilla had just realised why she paired up with Keeri. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Cool, that means I’ll get the best tent because J-mills is the most organised person I know,” Zazzalil said, her mouth full of something she’d been eating. Jemilla was already regretting agreeing to this.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Right, well each pair has to nominate one person to bring their tent. I’m guessing I’ll be doing that for me and Zazz.” Jemilla looked over at Zazz who smiled. “You all should bring the basics for camping and anything extra. We’ll go on Friday and come home on Sunday morning.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Great! I’m so excited,” Tiblyn clapped and leaned over to Grunt. “We’re gonna have so much fun Grunt! We can have fairy lights in our tent and decorate it with glow in the dark stars! And I can bring my stuffed animals!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well Grunt could bring Bunnie with him,” Emberly said. Grunt’s face turned bright red.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Bunnie?” Schwoopsie asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, Bunnie is his stuffed rabbit he sleeps with every night. It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Babe-” Grunt began before Emberly interrupted.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I have photos of him and Bunnie too!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>SHOW ME</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” Schwoopsie yelled with glee as she dove across the table, Ducker and SB also leaned over to have a look as Grunt turned even redder. “Oh my god, dude that’s so adorable.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Stop looking,” Grunt said as he covered Emberly’s phone and frowned, they shuffled back into their seats still giggling about the photos. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Does anyone have any ideas about what activities we could do?” Jemilla asked as she noted down everything that had already been established. “Keep in mind it’s January.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We could go hiking?” Emberly suggested, some of their lazier friends grumbled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Swimming too!” Tiblyn added.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But it’s cold?” Ducker said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tiblyn shrugged. “Well we went to the lake at the start of October, I don’t see why it should be any different now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Any other ideas?” Jemilla asked as she continued to write the suggestions down.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We could roast smores at the fire and tell stories,” SB said with a grin, wherever food was involved he was happy. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay great, be ready for Friday. Schwoopsie can drive me, Zazzalil and Chorn. Emberly can drive Keeri, SB and Ducker. Grunt can drive himself and Tiblyn. Okay?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Everyone agreed and headed home from their lunch, all wanting to get their homework out of the way before Friday. </span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>The next day, Thursday to be exact, Zazzalil came up to Jemilla after her last class.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We should go shopping together. For camping supplies,” Zazzalil said as they walked towards the study hall.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Now?” Jemilla asked. She was hoping to get in some studying before tomorrow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, we can go down to Tom’s Tools and Grool. We might find something cool.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay, sure. We can go now.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re gonna have to walk, do you need to drop anything off first?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just my books, it’ll take five minutes,” Jemilla said and they headed over to Jemilla’s apartment, ten minutes later they arrived at Tom’s Tools and Grool.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do we need a cart?” Zazzalil asked, even though she was already getting one.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Probably because we’re gonna need a new tent, my old one got ripped when Molag tried to fight a bear with her sword.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It wasn’t actually a bear, it was an old man looking for the bathroom. She almost stabbed him,” Jemilla said as she guided Zazzalil, and the cart, over to the food aisle first and began to grab canned food.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Man, Molag is so cool. I don’t understand how she could raise someone as boring as you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey! I am not boring, I just like following the rules and </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>stabbing old men,” Jemilla said, feeling more hurt by Zazzalil’s words than she probably should have been.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re right, you’re not boring. Just, very…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Very what?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know? Responsible I guess,” Zazzalil said and Jemillla hummed, she was pretty responsible.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They continued looking around the shop and whilst Jemilla was examining the tents Zazzalil disappeared somewhere.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla lifted the tent she’d chosen off the shelf and turned to place it in the cart when she jumped backwards and dropped to the ground, startled by what was before her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil was wearing a ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Women want me, fish fear me</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ hat, a giant camo jacket, a fake beard and sunglasses.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Zazzalil, what are you doing?” she asked as she picked the boxed tent off the ground and put it into the cart.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know who Zazzalil is, my name is Frank,” Zazzalil said in a voice that was as deep as she could muster, puffing out her chest.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I thought Frank was dead?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m a ghost Jemilla, and I’m gonna haunt you! Booooo!” She wiggled her arms around and Jemilla sighed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re gonna have to put that stuff back or pay for it, now come on we still have things to find.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil refused to remove her </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘disguise’</span>
  </em>
  <span>, as she called it, and Jemilla kept her eyes averted to the ground to avoid the stares they were getting. It was a continuous battle of Zazzalil chucking random junk into the cart and Jemilla sneaking them back to their shelves. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay, that’s enough.” Jemilla picked up the latest thing Zazzalil had put in the cart, a machine designed to blow up balloons. “Why would we need this for camping? Why would we need this in </span>
  <em>
    <span>general</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil shrugged with a grin, though it was barely visible beneath the massive beard. “I have no idea. I just wanted to see how long it’d take you to draw the line,” she said looking back into the cart. “Hey, wait a second! Where’s all my crap?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla sighed, lifting the heavy machine back onto the shelf behind her. “I got rid of it all in secret, otherwise I knew you would throw a tantrum about it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I am </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>throwing a tantrum.” To prove her point Zazzalil stomped her foot, Jemila raised her brows and stared at her. “Oh.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “Okay, fine. Maybe you’re right….”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I'm definitely right,” she said, returning to the cart and continuing down the aisle. “Now, can we stick to putting things we need in the cart?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fine.” Zazzalil sulked behind her, dragging her feet that made a dreadful screeching noise against the laminate flooring. Combined with her outfit it was quite the sight.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The two finished their shopping trip, reaching the front counter where the owner stood looking bored out of his mind. Beside him was a young boy sat on a chair, scribbling on some paper.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hi,” Jemilla said, loading their things onto the counter. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The man just grumbled, scanning each item and dropping them into the bag. “You two going camping or something?” he asked, scanning the final item and chucking it into a bag with less care than the rest.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yep.” Zazzalil leaned against the counter, and Jemilla already knew she was going to do something stupid. “We’re kinda like camping experts.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Really?” the boy asked, looking up from his paper with wide eyes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil nodded, propping her head on her palm. “That’s right. One time I killed a </span>
  <em>
    <span>bear </span>
  </em>
  <span>with a </span>
  <em>
    <span>sword</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” Jemilla glanced to Zazzalil, shaking her head at the antics. “And my friend here-” Zazzalil pointed to Jemilla. “She single-handedly built an entire house in the woods. No tools, just her bare hands.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“She’s got bear hands?” The boy dropped his paper, leaping over towards the counter to stand across from Zazzalil as the owner and Jemilla moved the tent together. “Were they from the bear you killed?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re a smart kid.” She ruffled his hair, pulling something from the pocket of her large camo jacket. It was a piece of candy, Jemilla wasn’t even sure where she got that. “Here, take this.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wow, thank you mister.” The boy stuffed the candy in his mouth, Zazzalil laughed and leaned forward.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can I tell you a secret?” she asked and the boy nodded eagerly. “This isn’t a real beard.” She pulled the beard down and the boy gasped, Zazzalil shushed him. “But keep it a secret, my friend doesn’t know.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The boy clamped his hand over his mouth, looking over to Jemilla who was too distracted with the tent. He looked back to Zazzalil, sticking out his hand. “I’m Tim.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Zazzalil.” She shook his hand after lifting the beard back up. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla groaned, finally getting the tent near the front door. “Zazz, can you stop talking to that kid and help me by grabbing the bags?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil picked up the two bags the owner had packed earlier. “See you around, Tim,” she said with a wink, walking away to Jemilla.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You need to take that off or buy it,” the owner said, wiping away the sweat that had gathered on his forehead. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil looked down at her outfit. “How much for all of it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thirty dollars.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil reached into her pocket, pulling out her wallet and digging through it. “Um, I have nineteen dollars and twenty-three cents. How much can I get with that?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The man sighed, looking her up and down and calculating the price on his fingers. “You could get the hat, the glasses and the beard or just the jacket on it’s own.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can you just buy the jacket so we can go?” Jemilla pulled the bags over to the tent. “The jacket will keep you warm when we’re camping anyway.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fine,” she said, taking off the rest and handing them to the owner. At the last second she pulled the beard back, staring at us wistfully. “I’m gonna miss you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If your friend has the money you can keep it,” he said, looking over to Jemilla. “It’s five dollars.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla dropped the bags, furrowing her brows. Zazzalil turned to her, pouting. “You’re ridiculous,” Jemilla said, handing the man the money. “You owe me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thanks J-mills, you’re the best!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The two took their purchases outside, Zazzalil carrying the bags and Jemilla dragging the large tent out by herself. “You know,” Jemilla began, letting out a huff as she leaned against the box. “You could have helped at least a little bit.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Then who would have carried the bags?” she asked, holding up both her hands and swinging the bags around.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We could have gone back for them </span>
  <em>
    <span>after </span>
  </em>
  <span>we moved the tent.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil shrugged and dropped the bags beside the box, pulling another piece of candy from her pocket and popping it in her mouth. Jemilla stood up straight and observed the box for a moment, she looked around the parking lot and smacked herself in the forehead.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We walked here,” she said, gesturing to the tent. “How are we gonna get this back to my apartment without a car?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil scratched her chin beneath the beard and circled the box, tilting her head. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t wanna carry this thing all the way back to campus.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Agreed.” Jemilla pulled out her phone and scrolled through her contacts. “I’ll ask Keeri to pick us up.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Minutes later Keeri arrived and helped pack the box and bags into her trunk, one question on her mind.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why’d you buy a tent without a car?” she asked as she helped Jemilla carry the tent up the stairs. Zazzalil was trailing behind them, spitting out the fake hairs from her beard.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re both </span>
  <em>
    <span>idiots</span>
  </em>
  <span>, that’s why,” Jemilla said. She kept glancing behind her, worried she’d fall over and drop the tent onto Keeri and Zazzalil. “Neither of us even have cars.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I forgot to say, I love your beard, Zazz,” Keeri said and Zazzalil nodded. “It really suits you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thanks. At least </span>
  <em>
    <span>someone </span>
  </em>
  <span>appreciates it.” She half-heartedly glared at Jemilla before pulling another hair from her mouth, popping a new piece of candy in its place.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They managed to get the tent to Jemilla’s apartment causality free, except for when Zazzalil touched the box as Jemilla unlocked her door and got a papercut. Jemilla laid flat on the floor out of breath, Keeri beside her. Zazzalil sat on the small dining table nearby, watching the two of them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You see, this is why I’m lazy,” she said, pointing at them. “If you volunteer to help, you end up like that. However, if you stay back and uninvolved you end up like this.” She then pointed to herself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Keeri chuckled as Jemilla scowled and covered her face with her arm. She knew she’d have to mentally prepare herself for sharing a tent with Zazzalil. This was going to be interesting.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter Two: Frigid First Night</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Well,” Zazzalil said, observing the area as her friends unloaded their equipment from the cars. “It’s fucking freezing.” She shivered, ducking her chin into the large jacket she bought.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, I think Jemilla was right.” Keeri was shivering too, having worn less warm clothing. “Why did we think it was a good idea to go camping in winter?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think it was Tibs idea, so I’m gonna blame her.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey!” Tiblyn yelled from across the clearing. She was helping Grunt set up their tent, though Grunt seemed to be doing most of the heavy lifting as Tiblyn untangled her fairy lights. “You all agreed to it! Even J did!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Keeri shrugged. “Well, no one should trust us to make decisions. I’m gonna go help Emberly with the tent, see you later Zazz.” She skipped away, leaving Zazzalil alone. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After standing around observing everyone else for a while, Zazzalil wandered over to Jemilla, who was struggling to put up their tent. Just as she reached the small patch of land where the tent was being constructed it crumbled into a pile of tarp and metal.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla stared at the mess, on the brink of tears. She dropped to the ground with a groan, pulling at her hair. “I thought I had it that time.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you not know how to put up a tent?” Zazzalil asked, picking up the supports tangled within the tarp and setting them aside.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla sighed, standing to help pick out the supports. “I do, or I thought I did. It’s been a while since I went camping.” She picked up the tarp and flattened it out against the grass. “It shouldn’t be this difficult.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil held one of the thin metal beams out in front of her, squinting at it. “I haven’t been camping since I was thirteen,” she said, wiggling the beam. “But, we’re both pretty smart. If we worked together maybe we could figure it out?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We could try?” Jemilla held up the tarp and Zazzalil smiled. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The two got to work on the tent, the occasional squabbling aside they were a good team. Jemilla took charge, mostly guiding from the side as Zazzalil did the heavy lifting. Their tent was up in no time.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“High five!” Zazzalil held her hand up and Jemilla smacked it, smiling gleefully as she admired the tent.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s not the most beautiful tent I’ve seen,” she said, pointing to a small rip Zazzalil had made earlier that had since been patched up with a lot of duct tape. “But we did it, and that’s all that matters.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil nodded, flopping to the ground and lying on her back. “Like I said, I prefer being lazy so I don’t end up like this.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I see your point,” Jemilla said as she joined Zazzalil on the ground, looking up at the clouds. “But if everyone was lazy then nothing would get done.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil shrugged with a grumble, closing her eyes. “Yeah, well, that’s not my problem.”</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>The group didn’t do much since they arrived, all too exhausted from putting up their tents and carrying equipment to start with their planned activities. They sat around the small fire, Emberly cooking dinner as they traded stories.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So, I’d say the moral was: never trust a guy who says he has access to a dinosaur and can give it to you, he’s just a dirty liar.” SB nodded, stroking his chin at his ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>wise advice</span>
  </em>
  <span>’.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hang on,” Keeri said, putting her hand up. “Isn’t the moral not to follow a guy into his house when you don’t know him?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Or maybe the moral is to just not be an idiot?” Schwoopise suggested.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“SB isn’t an idiot!” Tiblyn protested, pulling an oblivious SB into a hug and kissing him on the cheek. “He is </span>
  <em>
    <span>very </span>
  </em>
  <span>smart.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ducker laughed, clasping his hands together. “I think we all know who’s the smart one here.” Everyone nodded. “It’s Chorn.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?” Zazzalil lifted her head up from where it rested on her knee. “No it’s not, it’s obviously Jemilla!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh, no,” Schwoopsie said, pointing to Chorn. “We all agree it’s Chorn. Even Jemilla.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil looked to Jemilla, who shrugged. She groaned, shaking her head. “Not all of us,” she said. “Emberly, who’s smarter: Chorn or J-mills?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Emberly tilted her head in thought, still stirring the food. “I’d say J is smarter, but Chorn is still smart too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ha!” Zazzalil clicked her fingers, pointing finger guns at Ducker. “See, I told you!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay? Why do you care so much about defending Jemilla anyway?” he asked and Zazzalil froze. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Why was she defending Jemilla? Sure, she did believe Jemilla was smarter than Chorn. But to try and prove it? That just didn’t make sense. All eyes were on her now, she had to say something. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Because…” She looked around, racking her brain for anything. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Anything</span>
  </em>
  <span>. “Jemilla’s great!” Her cheeks were burning, her </span>
  <em>
    <span>face </span>
  </em>
  <span>was burning. Hopefully no one could see the red tint of her face in the darkness.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Schwoopise started laughing first. “Jeez Zazz, do you </span>
  <em>
    <span>like </span>
  </em>
  <span>her or something?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What? No! Why would you-” she sputtered, interrupted by more laughter from the group, she chanced a glance at Jemilla. Her head was in her hands. Yikes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think that’s enough teasing,” Emberly said, rising from where she sat by the fire. “Dinner’s ready, and if you keep bullying Zazz then you get none.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The laughter stopped immediately. Emberly and Grunt handed out the stew Emberly had made, the group ate in silence. Whether it was so Emberly didn’t take their meals away or because they loved her cooking was to be determined.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla volunteered to help the two clean the bowls afterwards and everyone else wandered off to their own things. Zazzalil headed over to the large log by the lake, sitting down to stare across the water into the forest on the other side. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mind if I join you?” Zazzalil turned her head to see Keeri sit down beside her despite the question not being answered. “So.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So?” Zazzalil looked back over the lake, sinking into her jacket.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why’d you defend Jemilla back there?” she asked and Zazzalil rolled her eyes. “Was Schwoops right?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you mean?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well,” Keeri paused, glancing around before lowering her voice. “Do you like Jemilla?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course not.” Zazzalil answered too quickly, earning a strange look from Keeri. “I mean, Jemilla’s a great </span>
  <em>
    <span>friend </span>
  </em>
  <span>and super cool. But I don’t see her like that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you sure?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, I’m sure I don’t like Jemilla </span>
  <em>
    <span>like </span>
  </em>
  <span>that. She’s just a friend, that’s all.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If you say so,” Keeri said with a teasing grin. “Wait. Then why do you spend all your time with her?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah! Whenever you’re not with me your off doing something with J. First there was that weird thing with you two swimming even though you weren’t even close at the time, then she was the first to volunteer to go ghost hunting with you, now you’re paired up for the camping trip,” she said, tapping her chin. “Wait. Are you two secretary dating?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What? No!” Zazzalil almost fell backwards from the shock. Her and Jemilla? Dating? “I told you, we’re just friends. And we don’t spend </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>much time together.” She thought back to the past few months, they had been hanging out more than usual. But, that didn’t mean anything. “Jemilla’s just nice and won’t leave me hanging.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Keeri stared at her for a moment before shrugging. “Alright, but if you do start dating Jemilla I have to be the first one to know. Got it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re not gonna start dating!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She shrugged again, tilting her head to look at the sky. “You know, I was going to tell a story at the fire.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Which one?” Zazzalil asked, Keeri certainly had a lot of stories to tell.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The one where I stopped you from drinking that restaurant's entire supply of ketchup because some guy challenged you,” Keeri said, Zazzalil nodded at the memory. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I will never turn down a challenge,” she said. “But I'm glad you stopped me, that would have been…” Her sentence trailed off and she shuddered at the thought of drinking 20 bottles of ketchup. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Disgusting?” Keeri offered and Zazzalil nodded again. “I bet you could have done it though, if I hadn't stopped you.” She stood, glancing back over to the camp. “I’m gonna head to bed, I'll see you tomorrow Zazz,” she said, pausing for a moment before grabbing Zazzalil by the shoulder. “Promise if you start dating Jemilla you’ll tell me first?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That's not gonna happen!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just promise me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil sighed, slouching over out of Keeri’s grip. “Fine, I promise that in the unlikely situation that I start dating </span>
  <em>
    <span>my friend</span>
  </em>
  <span> Jemilla, I'll tell you first. Okay?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Keeri smiled and skipped away to her tent, Zazzalil shook her head at the sight and stood herself. It was late, time for bed. She could spot Grunt and Tiblyn’s tent from miles away, lit up like a lamp due to the fairy lights and the faint outline of a stuffed rabbit.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She pushed open the flap to her tent, Jemilla was sat one side with all her things beside her. She was reading, and wearing glasses. Zazzalil didn't know she wore glasses.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her idle staring grabbed Jemilla’s attention, she turned her head upwards and watched Zazzalil with a raised brow. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is… Is something wrong?” she asked with apprehension </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil shook herself from her daze. “No! I'm fine,” she plopped down on her already rolled out sleeping bag, courtesy of Jemilla. “I just, uh, didn't know you wore glasses.” She pointed to said glasses and Jemilla frowned, her hand instinctively touching the frame. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh.” Jemilla turned back to her book. “Well now you know.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They fell into silence as Zazzalil changed, putting her jacket back on because this tent definitely didn’t keep out the frigid air. Perhaps it was something to do with the giant hole on her side of the tent, she poked the duct tape that had taken its place. It was essentially a block of ice.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She rolled over, pulling the hood of the jacket up over her head. The sleeping bag didn’t do much to conserve the little warmth her body had, her teeth chattered as she peered over at Jemilla. She was still reading, though Zazzalil could see her shaking from here.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you cold?” Zazzalil asked, though she didn’t know why. It was pretty clear everyone was cold.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla just nodded, closing her book and placing it beside her before rolling over to face Zazzalil. “I said it was a bad idea to camp in winter, nobody listened.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, sorry I didn’t side with you.” Zazzalil messed with the strings of her jacket, pulling them to make her hood tighter. “To be honest I wasn’t really paying attention to the conversation until the plans were done and we were paired.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla shrugged, propping her head up on her arm. “It’s fine. Not much you could have done anyway, it would have been 2 on 8. Majority rules, and I wasn’t going to let them go camping without my supervision,” she laughed. “They would have all come back either dead or injured.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t doubt that’ll happen even with you here. Especially with SB and Ducker paired up.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re right,” Jemilla said with a nod, she furrowed her brows and stared at Zazzalil for a moment. Hesitation obvious in her eyes. “Can I ask you something?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil tilted her head. “What do you want to ask?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla sighed and rolled over onto her back, shaking her head in deliberation. “Why’d you defend me at the fire?” she waited for an answer for less than a second before adding a clarification. “I mean, we weren't even really friends until a few months ago. And sure you told me we’re friends, but I- I don’t know, I’m just confused.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh.” Zazzalil scratched her head, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. “I actually don’t know why I did that.” The answer seemed to both relive and disappointment Jemilla at the same time. “But, now that I think about it. Well…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well?” Jemilla prompted, attempting to hide how eager she was to hear the answer.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I guess I want to be better friends with you.” Zazzalil felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, it was a confession she wasn’t even aware she was holding. “We’ve known each other for almost two years and I barely know you, and now that we’ve been hanging out more I’ve realised how cool you are.” Jemilla remained silent, the lack of response worrying Zazzalil. “Is that super weird?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla shook her head, still taking time to compose her thoughts. “I think I want to get to know you better too,” she said. “You’re right, I know nothing about you either - and I want to change that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil smiled, the chill of the air taking her by surprise and she shivered again. “Fuck, this was such a bad idea. Camping in winter! We’re so dumb!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t disagree with that,” Jemilla said, closing her eyes. “Just try to sleep, then you won’t even feel it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If you say so.” Zazzalil copied Jemilla, burrowing even deeper into her jacket. She thought that maybe Jemilla chose the opposite side for a reason, to avoid the constant stream of wind. Zazzalil was probably right, Jemilla was the smart one.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter Three: Catastrophe Strikes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Zazzalil woke to an empty tent. Broken streams of sunlight broke through the slivers of free space on the duct-taped wall, shining directly in her eyes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She sat up covering her face with both hands. Mornings were the worst challenge Zazzalil would ever face. Upon exiting the tent it was clear everyone else was awake, even SB. Though most of them were slugging around with bags under their eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Morning Zazz,” Tiblyn said, pulling her into a hug. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh, morning to you too Tibs.” Zazzalil looked around in confusion. “Why are you hugging me?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, I’m just so happy for you.” Before Zazzalil could ask what </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>meant she shoved her phone in Zazzalil’s face. “Look at this photo I got of Grunt!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil pulled back her head and squinted her eyes, it was Grunt snuggled up with his stuffed rabbit dazzled in twinkling fairy lights. “You should show that to Schwoops, she’d love it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Great idea, see you later!” Tiblyn hurried off to Schwoopsie, who was sitting alone grimacing. It seems she’d had the hardest time sleeping.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil weaved through the chaotic order of tents. That must have driven Jemilla mad.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Zazz!” Emberly popped out from a tent, carrying a giant stack of plates and forks. “Could you help me out? I need to make breakfast and I couldn’t find Grunt.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sure,” she said with a shrug, picking up half the plates.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I should ask for your help more often, I’m pretty sure you’re stronger than Grunt.” Emberly led them towards the fire, or where the fire had been last night. Now it was just a pile of scorched logs and ashes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Eh, I complain when I have to do too much work.” She placed the plates down beside the pot by the fire, wiping her hands on her jacket. “Just ask Jemilla, I’m sure she finds it the most annoying.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Emberly just smiled at her, it was more like a grin really, and shrugged. “I’m sure she does,” her tone was teasing as she pulled out a pan from her bag, setting up a small station to cook. “I think she’s looking for you, something about needing help with the plans? I don’t know, I wasn’t really listening.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you know where she is?” Emberly shrugged again. Zazzalil wandered off in search of Jemilla, though she didn’t seem to be anywhere in the camp.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yo Zazz!” SB called her over with a wave. “We need your help.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“With?” She looked to Ducker who had his arms up in the air, grabbing at the branch of the tree above him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We seem to have gotten our football stuck in the tree,” Ducker said, dropping his arms, nodding towards the football lodged between two intertwined branches. “You can climb trees right?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil nodded, looking back to SB. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, we want you to climb up there and get it!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Seriously?” she asked, evaluating the height of the tree. “I don’t know, it’s a little high up.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>SB scoffed, rolling up the sleeves of his sweater. “I’d do it myself, but I’m super high right now.” He ran his fingers through his knotted hair. “I didn’t know you’d turn down a challenge. I swear you told me you weren’t a coward. Right, Ducker?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ducker nodded with faux deep thought, stroking the stubble on his chin. “Yes, I remember that too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I am not a coward!” Zazzalil looked up to the football again, shaking off her jacket and rolling up her own sleeves. “I’m gonna get your stupid football and chuck it into the lake, just you watch.” She jumped up to the lowest branch, scrambling up the tree with zero grace.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wait! No, don't do that!” SB jumped to pull her down, but she was already too high up. “We were just kidding!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It was a joke Zazzalil, we swear!” Ducker attempted to pull him down too, his height advantage didn’t help him either. “Please, I hate water!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Too bad,” she called, perching herself on a sturdy branch. “If you want this football,” she said, steadily standing up whilst hugging the trunk. She reached up and gripped the football, tugging it from the two branches. “You’ll have to swim for it!” She wound her arm back, launching the ball all the way across the clearing and into the water. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It broke through the water with a plop, submerging beneath the water before floating back to the top.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil jumped down from the tree, smirking as SB and Ducker argued over who’d get the ball from the lake.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, by the way,” she said, the two stopped their squabbling for a moment. “Have you seen Jemilla? Apparently she’s looking for me, but I can’t find her anywhere.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ducker scratched his head. “I saw her walking down the side of the river that way. I don’t know if she’ll still be there.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thanks!” Zazzalil picked her jacket back up and continued her search for Jemilla, passing by Chorn reading a book beneath the shade of a tree. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Towards the start of the forest Jemilla was pacing back and forth, mini notebook in hand. Zazzalil waved, but she was too distracted to see. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Jemilla!” she yelled as she made her own way over, Jemilla looked up in confusion before slipping the notebook into her pocket. “Hey, Emberly said you wanted to see me?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, you know this area better than anyone. So I was wondering if you could lead the hike we’re doing later.” She pulled a map from another pocket, unfolding it and holding it between them. “I tried reading this map but it makes no sense.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re hiking?” Zazzalil asked with a sigh, glaring down at the map. “But that’s gonna take </span>
  <em>
    <span>so</span>
  </em>
  <span> much effort.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You can stay here if you want.” Jemilla turned the map slightly, closing one eye in hopes it would make more sense. “But, you’d be here alone all day.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil grumbled something to herself, taking the map from Jemilla. “Fine. I’ll lead the stupid hike,” she said, crumpling the map into a ball. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What are you doing?” Jemilla lunged for her map but Zazzalil stuffed it into her mouth. “Zazzalil!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t needsh a map, I have thish placesh memorished. The map ish up here.” Zazzalil tapped the side of her head, spitting out the soggy map ball onto the ground. “If we’re going hiking we're gonna do it my way.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla stared at the dishevelled map in disgust. “I’m starting to think I shouldn’t have asked you for help.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil shrugged with a grin, reaching into Jemilla’s pocket and pulling out her notebook. She flipped it over to the most recent page, examining the plans she’d made. “You want to go up to Fair Wolf Peak? That’s gonna take-“</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Five hours according to the map you threw away.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She shook her head, flipping the notebook closed and tossing it back to Jemilla. “Too long, we can take some shortcuts.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m going to take a wild guess and say that those shortcuts are dangerous.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s part of the fun!” Zazzalil looked back to the camp. “I’m gonna go grab breakfast, let me know when you’re ready to go.” She ran back to camp, Jemilla yelling after her to pick up her litter. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla ended up carrying the crumpled map ball back to camp, furiously sanitising her hands for the next hour. </span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>“You’re trusting Zazz to lead us?” Emberly asked, glancing to Zazzalil who was flicking a lighter on and off. “I don’t think we’re going to make it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Stop being ridiculous,” Jemilla said, packing her backpack to the brim. “She’s more knowledgeable about Fair Wolf Peak than any of us. She’s the perfect candidate.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Fair Wolf Peak</span>
  </em>
  <span>? Are you </span>
  <em>
    <span>insane</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” Ducker said, gripping the collar of his jacket. “I heard the last time people went up there they didn’t come back!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, and what about the big bear that lives up there?” Tiblyn asked, gripping SB’s arm with wide eyes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Or the weird cult of runaways who do their rituals there?” SB clutched Tiblyn back.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla sighed, rubbing her forehead. “Those are all </span>
  <em>
    <span>myths</span>
  </em>
  <span>, meaning they’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>not real</span>
  </em>
  <span>. We’ll be fine. You all trust Zazzalil, right?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“With watching my house while I’m gone maybe, but not hiking up to Fair Wolf Peak!” Ducker said, looking back over to Zazzalil. “Does she know how dangerous it is?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course I know,” Zazzalil said, looking up from the small flame to her friends. “That’s why I’m going to be </span>
  <em>
    <span>careful</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grunt laughed. “Careful? Since when are you careful?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Since J-mills asked me to.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The group looked at each other, nodding in agreement. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay, that’s believable,” Keeri said. “We trust you now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You trust me because I said Jemilla asked me to do something?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They all nodded again and Zazzalil sighed, killing the flame from her lighter. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well.” Jemilla zipped her bag closed, standing and sliding it onto her back. “Now that it’s settled, let’s get going!”</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” Jemilla asked, looking ahead at the large tree. “I think we passed that tree ten minutes ago.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What kind of question is that?” Zazzalil turned around, the rest of the group had fallen behind. “Come on guys! Unless you want to be at Fair Wolf Peak by sunset you better hurry up!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>No one increased their pace, lethargically making their way over. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I wanna go home,” Schwoopise said, wiping the sweat from her forehead. “I think I’m gonna walk back.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What? But we’ve gone so far!” Jemilla said. Schwoopsie wasn’t any more convinced to continue on. “Fine. Does anyone else want to head back to camp?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tiblyn, Ducker and Grunt put their hands up, drawing a heavy sigh from Jemilla. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Go back then, you cowards,” Zazzalil said and they all took the insult in stride. Saying their goodbyes and walking back the way they came. Zazzalil turned back around and observed the area, scratching her head. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where do we go now?” Jemilla asked, when Zazzalil didn’t respond she tapped her shoulder. “Zazz?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla sighed. “Are we lost?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No! I know where I’m going, trust me.” Zazzalil marched forward, everyone reluctantly followed behind her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Really should have kept that map,” Emberly said and Jemilla groaned.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It had been three hours and they’d made some progress, though no one was convinced Zazzalil wasn’t making this up as she went. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We shouldn’t stop for stupid breaks like this,” Zazzalil said to her friends, most of them panting or dowing the entirety of their water bottles.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Give them a break, Zazz,” Jemilla said, helping Emberly up off the ground. “They’re just tired.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah well, we’re gonna be stuck out here a lot longer if we keep stopping like this.” Zazzalil sat on a tipped over tree, sulking. </span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Now it was just Jemilla and Zazzalil, everyone else giving up and heading back to camp. But they were both determined to make the whole hike, Jemilla because of the effort they already made and Zazzalil out of spite.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The hiked onward in silence, trudging up the muddy hill leading to Fair Wolf Peak. So far they’d seen no dead people, no bears and no cults. It was going well.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Almost there!” Zazzalil called back from ahead, jumping up in an attempt to get a look at the top of the hill. Jemilla sped up to catch up with her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Soon they reached the top of the peak and the view was, well breathtaking it seemed. They both stood in silence as they looked over the cliff, a large blue lake sat at the base of the cliff, the grass-lined with plants and trees. Unfortunately, this time of year meant most of them were dead. But, it was still incredible.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wow…” Jemilla muttered, sucking in heavy breaths from the running. “This is amazing.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil nodded, taking a step back from the cliff and pulling Jemilla back with her. “I’d say we shouldn’t stand at the edge of the cliff,” she said as she pulled Jemilla over to a tree, she sat down beneath the shade. “I also need a break.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla sighed and sat down beside her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, you know that conversation we had last night?” Zazzalil asked and Jemilla nodded. “Well, I was thinking.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That sounds bad.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil shushed her. “I was thinking, and I thought that maybe we could do something to get to know one another better. After this camping trip.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmm, okay. What would we do?” Jemilla asked and Zazzalil shrugged.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know, I thought you’d figure it out.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright, what if we…” Jemilla paused to think, using the break to catch her breath. That running really took it out of her. “What if we both had  a day to show the other our lives, what we do, who we know and what we’re like?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah! That sounds great.” Zazzalil said, clapping her hands.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay, then that’s what we'll do. I’ll start planning it as soon as we get home.” Jemilla pulled out her notebook and pen, jotting it down for later. A loud thump ahead of them grabbed their attention, Jemilla froze mid-sentence and dropped her pen. “Uh, Zazz,” she whispered, reaching over to grab her arm. “That’s a bear.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know,” Zazzalil whispered back, staring at the bear with wide eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What are we going to do?” Jemilla asked. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil shrugged and slowly stood, Jemilla stood up alongside her and they backed against the tree as the bear stalked closer. “I have no idea how to deal with bears.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You don’t? You were supposed to be the expert!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, well, there’s never been a bear here </span>
  <em>
    <span>before</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” Zazzalil looked around frantically, getting an idea. “Wait, look,” she said, pointing up the tree. “We could hide up there.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“In the tree? Are you fucking nuts?” Jemilla kept her eyes on the bear, it was wandering around just ahead of them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I guess so!” Zazzalil began to climb the tree, stopping and anchoring herself on a branch before reaching down. “Grab my arm so I can pull you up!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No!” Jemilla pushed her back flush against the tree, gripping the bark with her fingers. “I’m not climbing a tree.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil groaned, waving her hand. “Unless you want to get eaten by that bear you better fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>grab my hand</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” The yelling caused the bear to snap its head towards them, it moved closer to them. “Jemilla! Come one!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla made a series of panicked noises as she grabbed Zazzalil’s hands, Zazzalil pulled her up as best she could and they sat on the tiny branch together. The bear circled the tree as the pair clutched each other so they wouldn’t fall.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How long do you think we’ll be stuck up here?” Jemilla asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The bear sat down at the base of the tree, licking its front paws. “I have a feeling it’s gonna be a while,” Zazzalil said, hitting her head back on the tree trunk in frustration.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla leaned over and shook Zazzalil awake, Zazzalil groaned and swatted her eyes away before stretching.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?” Zazzalil asked, cracking her knuckles.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla grimaced and pointed down. “The bear’s gone,” she said, looking up to the sky. It was night now, how long had they been asleep? “I’m sure everyone’s looking for us, we need to head back to camp.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil sighed, manoeuvring on the bench to sit up and dangle her legs over the side. “I never thought I’d say I was excited to get back to that drafty tent.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Zazz, be careful. I don’t want you to fall.” Jemilla placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her, but Zazzalil pushed her arm away. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll be fine, I’m a tree climbing expert. That means I-” Zazzalil let out a scream and she slipped off the branch, plummeting to the ground. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Zazzalil!” Jemilla leaned over to see Zazzalil lying on the ground, groaning. “Wait! I’ll be down in a second.” Jemilla climbed down the tree, digging her feet and fingers into the small cracks and divots in the tree’s trunk. She jumped to the ground, crouching beside Zazzalil. “Are you okay?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do I look okay?” Zazzalil said, sitting up and grabbing at her leg. “I don’t think I can walk.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shit.” Jemilla moved to Zazzalil’s right leg, moving in to get a closer look. “Can I check?” Zazzalil nodded and Jemilla rolled up her pants, wincing at the already growing bruise. “This is definitely fractured.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fuck.” Zazzalil flopped back. “How are we going to get back to camp now?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla put her hands over her face, groaning in frustration. “I don’t know. Are you sure you can’t walk?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m pretty fucking sure!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay, okay, sorry I asked. Um, maybe I could carry you?” Jemilla suggested and Zazzalil shook her head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I doubt you could carry me all the way back to camp, it’s hours away.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla grabbed hold of Zazzalil’s arm, helping her off the ground. “I have to try, I’m not going to let you hobble back to camp on one leg."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No.” Zazzalil pushed herself back. “This is a bad idea. I’ll be fine as long as you help me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Zazz, just let me carry you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No! It’ll take even longer!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Stop being a baby and just let me carry you back to camp!” Jemilla paused, scratching her head. “Okay that seems hypocritical but whatever. Zazz, we have to get back and I don’t want to risk you making your leg even worse. It might take a while but it’s the best chance we have of getting back without any injuries, okay?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil sighed. “Fine.”</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>“I think I’m gonna have to take a break,” Jemilla huffed out, stopping by a tree and leaning against it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Seriously?” Zazzalil said, loosening her grip on Jemilla’s shoulder. “We just stopped ten minutes ago.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah well,” Jemilla said, sinking to her knees and placing Zazzalil down. “I don’t have great upper arm strength, if you couldn't tell.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil nodded, pointing Jemilla’s phone torch ahead of them. “That I believe.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla took off her jacket, tying it around her waist. “I think this is the most exercise I’ve done in a while.” She fanned herself with her hand as she panted for breath. “Why is it so hot?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t think this is working.” Zazzalil placed the phone down, shining the light upwards. “I think you should give me a piggyback instead. That way you’re not relying on your weak arms.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla pointed, still huffing. “That’s actually really smart,” she said, fanning herself again. “Why didn’t I think of that?”</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>It was the early morning and the group were sitting around the fire, though it wasn’t lit right now. Emberly stood in the centre, having taken charge.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s been hours, they could be dead for all we know,” she said, pacing back and forth. “We have to organise a search party, call for help, something!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Babe,” Grunt stood, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure they’re okay. Zazz and Jemilla can handle themselves.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Emberly nodded. “You’re right. I just hate sitting here, doing nothing.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe Ducker and I could go look around the edge of camp in case they’re on their way back,” Schwoopsie said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s a good idea,” Tiblyn said with a nod. “They might have gotten lost on the way back. We could put up some fairy lights to guide them back!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes! These are great ideas!” Emberly’s hands shook anxiously as she began ordering people around. “Schwoopsie, Ducker, Chorn and Keeri wait on the edges of camp and watch out for them. Tiblyn and Grunt, put up all the fairy lights you have along the trees. SB and I will start on food, I’m sure they’ll be hungry when they get back.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Everyone got to work, the entire camp was lit up and could be spotted from miles away. Schwoopsie and Keeri yelled their names, hoping they’d hear. They were confident Zazzalil and Jemila would be back soon. There’s no way they’d lose their way now.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Ever since Jemilla had given Zazzalil a piggyback their progress had improved considerably, the sun was rising in the distance and they still had a long way to go but they held hope. Traversing the rocky and muddy landscape with someone on your back was hard enough, it was even tougher when it was pitch black and you were going downhill.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m hungry,” Zazzalil said from behind her, her arms loosely wrapped around Jemilla’s neck. “Did we bring any food with us?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Emberly brought the food but she took it back with her.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why didn’t we take it before she left?” Zazzalil asked and Jemilla shrugged, too tired to contemplate their stupidity in the past few hours. “We need to hurry then, I’m starving. I think it's time for a short cut.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You mean one of those dangerous shortcuts?” Jemilla asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Exactly!” Zazzalil pointed ahead to a lump of large boulders. “You see that small ledge?” she asked and Jemilla nodded. “It loops the whole way around that rock and skips about an hour of walking downhill. If we take that we’ll be back in no time.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hang on,” Jemilla stopped, observing the sliver of rock. “You expect me to be able to walk along </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span>, with you </span>
  <em>
    <span>on my back</span>
  </em>
  <span>? You’re kidding!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’ll be fine, and unless you wanna hear me complaining about how hungry I am for the rest of the walk back I suggest you take it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>One option meant certain death and the other meant hearing Zazzalil drone on about different types of food. The second would definitely make Jemilla more hungry than she already was. “Okay, hold on tight.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She moved along the wall, pressing her hands against the cold rock in front of her. She’d prefer to have her back against the wall but Zazzalil currently took up that space, so instead, Zazzalil was forced to hang over the edge clinging onto Jemilla for life. She slipped, gripping at a piece of stone jutting out of the wall.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her foot scrambled in search of a spot of safety on the sliver of rock, fingers hooked tightly onto small divots and cracks in wall. Jemilla let out a heavy breath once her foot made contact, steadying herself. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It took a while but soon they were back on sturdy ground and on their way back to camp. In the distance was a series of bright lights, despite being so obvious Zazzalil decided to point it out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Woah, look!” She pointed ahead, squinting her eyes. “What is that?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla tilted her head, those lights looked an awful lot like- “Tiblyn’s fairy lights! We’re almost there!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes!” Zazzalil fist-pumped, tapping Jemilla’s shoulders excitedly. “Onward!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla moved as fast as she could, greeted by a lot of yelling once she reached the camp.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“They’re back!” Keeri yelled, others came running to the edge of camp.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh thank God!” Emberly pulled Grunt into a hug, others cheering. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla dropped to her knees and allowed Zazzalil to hop off before rolling onto her front, burying her face in the leaves.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So,” Tiblyn said, pointing at the two of them on the floor. “What happened?”</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla pushed open the door, moving across the small room and sitting in the chair beside the bed. Zazzalil lay on it, her leg in a cast. Everyone had already signed her cast yesterday, covered in a rainbow of signatures and drawings.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How are you doing?” she asked as she settled in her seat, Zazzalil sat up as best she could.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m okay. Thanks to some painkillers they gave me most of the pains gone, it’s gonna take a while to heal though.” She looked down at her leg, frowning. “I guess we can’t do that thing we planned back on the hike?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You mean getting to know one another?” she asked and Zazzalil nodded. “We could just post-pone that, it’ll be fine.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil smiled and nodded. “That makes sense. Thanks for saving me back there Jemilla.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I didn’t save you, I just carried you back to camp,” she said with a laugh. “If anything you save me from being eaten by a bear.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zazzalil joined in with the laughter. “I guess I did.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jemilla pulled out her notebook and the two planned out the schedule for after Zazzalil’s leg healed. It didn’t help that Zazzalil was high in strong painkillers, but they ended up with mostly coherent plans. The two promised they’d never, </span>
  <em>
    <span>ever</span>
  </em>
  <span>, go hiking again.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks to everyone who read this silly little story I came up with! It was fun to write and plan, and I hope you all enjoyed it! :D</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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